400 



INDIA. 



man, Governor of Queensland, was appointed in 

 September to take the place at the expiration of 

 the term, and after at first accepting, ultimately 

 declined the appointment for personal reasons. 

 It was then offered to Lord Cromer, who also de- 

 clined. The Earl of Elgin, born 1849, was ap- 

 pointed Viceroy early in October, and signified 

 his acceptance of the office. His father was ap- 

 pointed Viceroy in 1862, and died in India. 



The Indian Councils act, passed by the Im- 

 perial Parliament in 1892, provided for enlarged 

 representation in the Supreme Council and in 

 the several provincial councils ; it also provided 

 that the council members should be allowed the 

 privilege of interpellating the Government, and 

 that in the Supreme Council discussion of the 

 budget should be allowed in all cases ; whereas 

 heretofore discussion had been permitted only 

 when fresh taxation was considered. The act 

 only laid down general principles, leaving the 

 task of practically applying them to be worked 

 out by the Government of India, subject to the 

 approval of the Secretary of State. Early in the 

 present year the Viceroy made known the rules 

 which would govern interpellations in the Su- 

 preme Council, these being essentially the same 

 as those which obtain in the Imperial Parlia- 

 ment. It is left discretionary with the president 

 to disallow any question to which answer at the 

 time might jeopardize the public interests. The 

 rules for the provincial councils are similar, but 

 forbid interpellation upon matters not under the 

 control of the local government, as well as all 

 questions, except as to matters of fact, relating 

 to any subject in controversy between the local 

 government and the Supreme Government or 

 the Secretary of State. As to the budget, the 

 rules provide that a full explanation of it shall 

 be made in Council each year, after which mem- 

 bers are privileged to speak upon it and the 

 financial member may reply, the president closing 

 the discussion. The Viceroy proclaimed these 

 rules and the privileges to which they relate in 

 force from Feb. 2, 1893. The Councils act pro- 

 vides that the maximum number of additional 

 members of the Viceroy's Legislative Council 

 shall be 16, of whom at least one half shall be 

 nonofficial. It was proposed by the Indian Gov- 

 ernment and approved by the Secretary of State 

 that there should be 10 nonofficial members, of 

 whom 4 should be recommended by the legisla- 

 tures of the provinces having councils, 1 should 

 represent the interests of commerce, and 1, per- 

 haps, be chosen from the Calcutta bar, while the 

 selection of the other 4 should be left entirely to 

 the. discretion of the Viceroy. The new system, 

 while it creates various elective bodies, does not 

 give them the power of absolute election, but 

 confines them to the privilege of recommend- 

 ing candidates to the Government. The right 

 of appointment remains with the governors of 

 provinces, and in the Supreme Council with the 

 Governor-General in Council ; but in comment- 

 ing upon this point in the Legislative Council, 

 the Viceroy remarked that such recommendation 

 would be entitled to the greatest weight, and 

 was not likely to be disregarded except in cases 

 of the clearest necessity. 



Finances. The revised estimate of revenue 

 for 1891-'92, and the budget estimate for 1892- 

 '93, were, in tens of rupees, as follow : 



The expenditure under the different heads in 

 1891-'92, according to the revised estimates, and 

 that for 1892-'93, according to the budget esti- 

 mates, was, in tens of rupees, as follow : 



Deducting balances due the Imperial Govern- 

 ment on provincial accounts, the expenditure for 

 1891-'92 stands at Rx 88,665,900, and for 1892 -'93 

 at Rx 88,221,300. In addition to these amounts 

 a capital expenditure not charged against reve- 

 nue on railroad and irrigation works is set down 

 for 1891-'92 at Rx 3,500,000, and for 1892-'93 

 at Rx 4,035,000. 



The closed account for 1891-'92 showed an ad- 

 ditional surplus of Rx 113,435. making it Rx 467,- 

 000. The figures for 1892-'93 as revised showed 

 an increase in the net revenue of Rx 1,891,600, 

 while the net expenditure increased Rx 3,120,- 

 000, thus converting the anticipated surplus of 

 Rx 164,600 into a deficit of Rx 1,081.900. The 

 budget estimate of revenue for 1893-'94 is Rx 

 90,005,700, and of expenditure Rx 91.600,800, the 

 result being a deficit of Rx 1,595,100. The prin- 

 cipal increase in the estimated revenue of 1892- 

 '93 was Rx 971,600 in opium, the crop of which 

 had been for three years a partial failure. This 

 led the Government to reduce the number of 

 chests sold, and resulted in a material appreci- 

 ation in the prices obtained, while the cost of 

 production was considerably decreased. The 

 other items which went to make up the increase 

 were land, salt, stamps, excise, and others of the 

 general revenue. Of the increased expenditure, 

 Rx 1,635,300 was due to the fall in exchange 

 during the year below Is. 6J. per rupee, the price 

 calculated in the budget, in addition to which 

 there was a considerable increase of expenditure 



